November 29-December 9, 2016

Reading: Mysteries –Guided Reading Groups, quiz this week; Novel Study – City of Ember
Writing: Essays/Reports - writing effective introductions, varying sentence structures, revising and clarifying ideas
Math: Measurement – making accurate linear measurements, converting units (e.g., metres to centimetres)
Science: Body Systems – nervous & digestive systems, test this week
Social Studies: First Nations & European Explorers in Early Canada – Inquiry Process, Stage 2 (gathering information) & Stage 3 (processing and organizing information)
French (Mr. Lobo): TBA
Music/Drama/Dance (Ms. Bordonaro): TBA
Visual Art: One-Point Perspective – finishing Final Piece
Phys. Ed: Cooperative Games – Target assessments

Math Quiz - Corrections

A math quiz was returned this week, where the class as a whole didn't do very well.  The students either did very well (e.g., Level 4) or not so well (e.g., Level 2 or below).  

We reviewed the questions in class and I've offered students who received lower than a Level 3 to complete their corrections to earn up to 2 marks (10%).  They've been asked to do their corrections using a pencil crayon or different colored pen.  Students have until then end of the week to submit their corrections, along with their Blue Folders.

Follow-up Questions/Answers from Parent Teacher Interviews

It was a pleasure meeting all of you for the parent-teacher interviews. I was very impressed by your commitment to your children’s learning and many of you had insightful questions. I’m going to share some of the questions and resources that came up in the interviews, as other students/parents may also benefit from the question/resource:

Q: What will the students be learning this year?

At the curriculum afternoon, the Long Range Plans were distributed, and can be downloaded here. Please note these are broad plans and will be changed to suit the needs of the students. For a more detailed look into what we are learning each week, check this blog for weekly updates.

Information on the specific expectations that will be covered can be found in the Ontario curriculum documents.

Q: What does the difference between Level 3 and Level 4 Writing and other subjects?
The Ontario government provides teachers with characteristics of each achievement level in documents known as exemplars. The exemplar also continues examples of the different levels of writing, so that teachers can compare student work to determine the actual level.

Here is the Writing exemplar for Grades 1-8: http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/briarcrest/docs/writing18ex.pdf

Before each assignment, I also give the students Success Criteria, and we go over them in class. In order to achieve a Level 3, students must have met all the success criteria. Students who go above and beyond, exceeding expectations, will receive a Level 4.

Here are some examples of Success Criteria we have used in our class:
Writing – Personal Narratives
Writing – Essays
Science – Mid-unit Assessment (Exercise Routine & Oral Presentation)
Visual Art – One-Point Perspective City Scape or Gallery (often times, they are displayed as Anchor Charts in the classroom):

Q: What resources can help my child develop his/her problem solving skills in Math?
The University of Waterloo has a Problem of the Week program, for Grades 3/4 and 5/6. You can subscribe to the weekly email to receive the problems. The following week, you will receive a new problem as well as the solution to the previous problem. 

Q: I want to help my child in Science and Social Studies, but there is no textbook, what can I do?
For our Science and Social Studies programs, I try to mainly use hands-on activities and experiments to help students grasp concepts and ideas, and develop skills, so that their learning is not just memorizing facts. This also allows me to suit the different learning modality of the students (e.g., some learn visual, others kinetically, musically, or aurally). I do give students hand-outs as part of the activities and experiments, and students are welcomed to take them home to show parents. Please remind your student to bring their folders back to school every day, as they will need them in class.

In class, we use a variety of non-fiction texts to support our learning, and I have bins of books in the classroom related to the topic we’re studying (e.g., currently we have bins of books about the First Nations and the Body Systems). If you would like to help your child at home in the areas of Science or Social Studies, you can help your child borrow non-fiction books from the local library or find websites/articles related to the topic we are studying. By doing extra reading, students will be able to make better connections to their new learning in class, and have a larger schema (prior knowledge) to draw from. Alternately, students can also access the TDSB virtual library to the resources there.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.  You can write a note in your child's planner or give me a call at 416-396-2460.  

Math Homework

Here are the intervals for pg. 168 #4, if you need them:

Height (cm)	# of students
135-139
140-144
145-149
150-154
155-159
160-165

Remember, this is not the only possible solution (e.g., you can use other intervals too)

November 21-25, 2016

Reading: Mysteries – The Garage Sale Mystery, Guided Reading Groups
Writing: Essays/Reports – Planning using graphic organizers, refining the main idea/thesis
Math: Data Management – Circle Graphs, culminating project
Science: Body Systems – presentation of Mid-Unit Assessment
Social Studies: First Nations & European Explorers in Early Canada – Inquiry Process, Stage 2 con’t
French (Mr. Lobo): TBA
Music/Drama/Dance (Ms. Bordonaro): TBA
Visual Art: One-Point Perspective – Final Piece using pencil, water colour & ink
Phys. Ed: Cooperative Games – Target games con’t

November 14-18, 2016

Reading: Mysteries – Graphic Organizers con't
Writing: Essays/Reports –  review of writing paragraphs, graphic organizers to plan essays
Math: Data Management – bar graphs, histograms, broken line graphs
Science: Body Systems –Mid-Unit Assessment
Social Studies: First Nations & European Explorers in Early Canada – Inquiry Process, Stage 2
French (Mr. Lobo): TBA
Music/Drama/Dance (Ms. Bordonaro): TBA
Visual Art: One-Point Perspective – Art Gallery scene con't
Phys. Ed: Cooperative Games – Target games con't

Bar Graph

Here is the table for the bar graph we were working on in class.  Remember to include all the parts of a bar graph, and choose your scale carefully!

Writing Homework

In writing class, we've been reviewing paragraph writing as part of our Essay/Report unit.  We discussed the Hamburger model of paragaph writing, and wrote one together.  

As Remembrance Day is coming up, students drafted a paragraph to answer the question: How can you be a peacemaker? For homework, students can use Google Classroom to publish their paragraph or rewrite their paragraph neatly on the paper provided in class.  

Our Google Classroom can be accessed using their student number and password (they should have their student number written in their planners and they should know their passwords).  To reach Google Class, students can go to TDSB's academic workspace:  http://aw.tdsb.on.ca/

November 7-11, 2016

Reading: Mysteries – Graphic Organizers
Writing: Essays/Reports – Generating ideas and gathering information, review of writing paragraphs
Math: Data Management – Mean, Median, Mode & Range, discrete vs. continuous data, quiz this week
Science: Body Systems –Circulatory system con’t, Mid-Unit Assessment
Social Studies: First Nations & European Explorers in Early Canada – Inquiry Process, Stage 2
French (Mr. Lobo): TBA
Music/Drama/Dance (Ms. Bordonaro): TBA
Visual Art: One-Point Perspective – Art Gallery scene
Phys. Ed: Cooperative Games – Target games

October 31 - November 4, 2016

Reading: Mysteries – Introduction, Making Connections
Writing: Personal Narratives – Publishing, Essays/Reports – Pre-assessment
Math: Data Management – Introduction, Mean, Median, Mode & Range
Science: Body Systems – Respiratory & Circulatory systems
Social Studies: First Nations & European Explorers in Early Canada – Inquiry Process, Stage 2
French (Mr. Lobo): TBA
Music/Drama/Dance (Ms. Bordonaro): TBA
Visual Art: One-Point Perspective – Art Gallery scene
Phys. Ed: Cooperative Games – assessment task – designing a cooperative game/task, Target Unit - Launch